Reduction of carbon emission in iron sintering process based on hot air sintering technology.

Reducing carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions in the iron and steel industry plays a crucial role in addressing global climate change. One significant technological solution for reducing CO 2 emissions in iron and steel production is the recycling of waste heat. Hot air sintering has the potential to decrease CO 2 emissions from flue gas by reusing hot flue gas in the production process. This can result in a reduction in the consumption of fossil fuels. Usually, the relationship between the hot air temperature and the carbon content determines the CO 2 emission reduction effect. In order to meet the demand for reducing CO 2 emissions, this paper thoroughly investigates the mechanism of CO 2 reduction by hot air sintering through sintering pot experiments. It precisely establishes the correlation between hot air temperature and carbon content, and suggests strategies for effectively managing hot air sintering based on scientific principles. The results show that hot air sintering achieves a reduction in CO 2 emissions by enhancing fuel combustion heat utilization and heat substitution. On the one hand, the heat of the sinter bed surface layer is increased, which improves the mineralization conditions and increases the sintered mineral quantity and quality, thus reducing the CO 2 emission by 4.4%; on the other hand, the waste heat is returned to the sinter bed to replace part of the fuel combustion heat, thus reducing the CO 2 emission by 17.7%. The experimental results show that the best carbon reduction effect is achieved at a hot air temperature of 300 °C and a solid fuel ratio of 4.7% (labelled T300-C47), which reduces carbon emissions by 17.7% and improves the quality of the sintered minerals. Combined with the actual production, in the range of 200–300 °C hot air, by increasing the hot air temperature to replace the solid fuel with equal heat can realize the hot air sintering to reduce CO 2 emissions and improve the sintering production. The research provides theoretical guidance for the clean production of iron and steel sintering and energy saving and carbon reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]